Mmm … Monadnock!

The Seacoast Eat Local program, in coordination with the NH Department of Agriculture, is promoting a NH Eat Local week to coincide with farmers’ market week on August 3 - 9, 2008.

Celebrate the bounty of New Hampshire grown food! Mix and match challenges from any of the categories and see what a difference you can make for your local economy, your health, your community, and your environment.

Sprout
- Visit and buy at a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Cook and eat two meals from NH grown foods*
- Find a new farm to buy from
- Share NH grown food with a friend (either a meal, some fruit or vegetables, cheese, whatever works!)
- Eat out at a restaurant that supports local agriculture and order the most local menu item

Seedling
- Try a vegetable new to you from a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Find and buy a NH grown foodstuff that will be available year-round (maple syrup, honey, cheese, milk, butter, meat, etc.)
- Cook and eat 6 meals from NH grown foods*
- Bring a friend, who’s never been, to a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Eat out at a restaurant that supports local agriculture - let your waiter know why you chose to dine at that restaurant

Perennial
- Buy an in-season food in bulk and can, freeze or dry some for the winter
- Cook and eat 12 meals from NH grown foods (bonus points for inviting friends or neighbors over for one of these meals)*
- Replace a purchased foodstuff with one you’ve made yourself with mostly local ingredients: ex: ketchup, salad dressing, pickles
- Teach a friend or family member to cook a new recipe based on local food
- Encourage a local restaurant to increase their support for local agriculture-talk to the manager, chef or owner or provide information about local farms

* Exemptions for spices, salt, and small amounts of other ingredients are allowed

Share your commitments and ideas with others by clicking here.

- Elisabeth Farrell of UNH’s Office of Sustainability will be eating locally and blogging about it at Discover(ing) Sustainability

- Chef Gary Caron of the Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth, NH will be creating a special three or four course prix fix menu based on local foods for the week.

- Rachel Forrest of The Portsmouth Herald and Seacoast Online will be eating locally and blogging about it at www.seacoastonline.com/food

- Seacoast Eat Local will be encouraging individuals to take a NH Eat Local Week Challenge, in which consumers find new sources of local food, stock up for the winter, learn new cooking techniques, and find restaurants that support farmers.

Also, VT Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee is inviting his fellow Commissioners of Agriculture from all 50 states to join him in an Eat Local Challenge. Send an email to the NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Lorraine Merrill, asking her to join the Eat Local Challenge too - LMerrill@agr.state.nh.us.